The present invention relates to acoustic panels, and more particularly to foam-type acoustic panels.
It has long been known that acoustic panels can be employed to change the acoustic qualities of a space, such as a room, studio, theater or stadium. A wide variety of acoustic-affecting materials, such as acoustic ceiling tiles and carpet are employed even in interior or exterior spaces (e.g. room, pool area) of houses, offices and commercial spaces where the acoustic characteristics of the space are not that critical. However, certain situations exist where the acoustic characteristics of a space are sufficiently critical so as to require more extraordinary treatment and devices to achieve the desired acoustic quality. Such environments include places such as music practice rooms, concert venues, recording studios and broadcast facilities.
To achieve the desired acoustical characteristics of an acoustic quality critical space, musicians and those who own the sound-critical spaces have long employed a variety of acoustic devices, such as acoustic foam panels to enhance the acoustic qualities of the space. Examples of such acoustic foam panels can be found at the Applicant""s web site at www.auralex.com. A review of Applicant""s web site discloses that these acoustic foam panels come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Although many of the foam panels are designed for general purpose use, some of the foam panels are designed for more special applications, or to perform more specific functions. Different types of panels that exist include things such as base trap panels that are designed especially for absorbing low-range, base sounds; corner panels that are designed to fit easily into corners of rooms; broad-band absorbers that are designed to absorb sound over a wide range of frequencies; and wedge-type absorbers that are especially useful for spot treating certain areas in spaces.
It should also be noted that acoustic foam panels employ a wide variety of facial configurations, with some facial configurations being adapted to perform certain functions, while other facial configurations are designed with primarily esthetic considerations in mind. Other sound panels are designed to not only absorb sound, but also to defuse sound over a given area. Further, some sound-absorbing panels are used primarily as sound and vibration insulators that are placed between a pair of hard surfaces, such as a platform and a floor to acoustically isolate two hard members from each other, to thereby reduce the likelihood that vibrations of one hard member will cause vibrations in the second hard member. Further, hard and/or dense, non-foam type acoustic panels exist that are used primarily to provide sound barriers between adjacent spaces.
One factor that has influenced the design and usability of sound panels is the electronic revolution. In times as recent as the 1970s and 1980s, a musician or other sound recording person who desired to obtain a studio-quality recording was often forced to make his recording in a specially-designed studio. This requirement existed not so much because of the acoustic properties of the room, but rather resulted from the significant expense required to obtain studio-quality electronic recording equipment, such as multi-track tape recorders, mixers and the like. Recently, sound recording technology has changed from the prior-used analog equipment to digital recording equipment. Concurrently, low cost personal computers have become sufficiently powerful so as to be able to process large amounts of digital data. These two technological developments have resulted in studio-class, high quality recording equipment being obtainable at a price that is affordable by persons such as musicians, radio personalities, voice talents and recording engineers. As such, the relatively low cost and small size of current state-of-the-art recording equipment has permitted many musicians, voice talents and other persons to set up xe2x80x9chome studiosxe2x80x9d in their homes, apartments or office spaces, that have electronic recording equipment that is capable of making high-quality xe2x80x9cstudio gradexe2x80x9d recordings.
Even though the declining price of studio-quality recording equipment has permitted the creation of such xe2x80x9chome studios,xe2x80x9d room acoustical quality issues still must be addressed by the home studio owner. Prior to the instant invention, the problem of acoustic quality was handled in a manner similar to the manner in which it was handled in professional studios. That is, the home studio owner would purchase acoustic panels, such as the foam panels shown at www.auralex.com, and install these panels within the home studio to achieve the desired acoustical characteristics of the space.
Although the installation of traditional foam panels within a room of the user""s home, has the capability of providing the user with an acoustically, highly-functional studio, room for improvement still exists. One area in which room for improvement exists relates to the utilization of the living areas and space within the user""s home. As will be appreciated, a room that is outfitted as a studio, and that contains walls having foam panels thereon, may be aesthetically undesirable to use for purposes other than a studio.
Although the installation of panels in a room to cause the room to be dedicated for use as a studio may be quite acceptable to those having dwellings with multiple or extra rooms, it may cause a less than desirable situation for a user having limited rooms or space within his dwelling. For example, room size considerations may dictate that the living room is the most suitable room within the user""s dwelling for use as a studio. However, the user may not wish to panel his living room in acoustic foam, since this may leave the living room aesthetically unsuitable for use as a living room to entertain guests. Therefore, it will be appreciated that situations such as those described above would be improved if the acoustic panels were designed to be easily installable and removable, so that the panels could be installed when the living room was being used as a studio, but uninstalled and stored out-of-sight when the user desired to use the room as a normal living room.
One object of the present invention is therefore to provide an acoustic panel that lends itself to temporary installation in a room, while providing easy de-installation.
In accordance with the present invention, a foam-type acoustic panel is designed to be mountable on a stand having a shaft. The acoustic panel includes a main body portion. The main body portion has a first end, a second end, a front surface, a rear surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, and first and second interlocking members. The first and second interlocking members define a multi-segment cut that extends between the top and bottom surface. The multi-segment cut includes a first end disposed at one of the front and rear surfaces, and a second end disposed interiorly of the other of the front and rear surfaces. The second end of the multi-segment cut defines an elongated aperture extending between the top and bottom surface for receiving the shaft of the stand.
Preferably, first and second interlocking members are movable between a disengaged position and an engaged position. In the disengaged position, a shaft of a stand can be received into the elongated aperture by passing the shaft laterally through the multi-segment cut. In the engaged position, the shaft is engaged by the acoustic panel with sufficient frictional force to maintain the acoustic panel at a chosen vertical position on the shaft.
Additionally, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first interlocking member includes a first portion extending in a first direction generally non-perpendicular to a plane defined by one of the front and rear surfaces. The first interlocking member also includes a second portion extending in a direction generally perpendicular to the first direction, and a third portion extending in a third direction defining an acute angle to the second direction. The second interlocking member includes a first portion for receiving the first portion of the first interlocking member, and a second portion for receiving the second portion of the first interlocking member. Further, the second interlocking member also includes a third, partly-cylindrical portion for receiving a bulbous male portion of the third portion of the first interlocking member.
One feature of the present invention is that the acoustic panel of the present invention can include a first end interlocking member that is disposed at the first end of the main body portion of the acoustic panel member; and a second interlocking member that is disposed at the second end of the main body portion. Through this arrangement, the acoustic panel of the present invention can comprise a first acoustic panel that is capable of being joined to a second acoustic panel by matingly engaging the first end interlocking member of the first acoustic panel with the second interlocking member of the second acoustic panel, to place the first and second acoustic panels in a co-planar end-to-end interlocked relation. Through this feature, the user can create a gapless, multi-segment panel having a length that may be two or more multiples of the length of any particular acoustic panel. Through this, the user gains enhanced flexibility in setting up acoustic panels, so that the acoustic panels of the present invention can be easily transferred from room to room by adding or removing acoustic panels as necessary to create an array of acoustical panels that is suitable for the particular sized room in which the acoustic panels are being used.
Another feature of the present invention is that the multi-segment cut includes a first end disposed at one of the front and rear surfaces, and a second end disposed interiorly of the other of the front and rear surfaces. Through this arrangement, the multi-segment cut can receive the shaft of the stand, without the cut extending completely through the panel. This arrangement helps to make the panel more structurally strong, and secure; and easier to assemble, as the shaft is preferably engaged by the acoustic panel near the middle (when measured from side to side) of the panel. As the shaft engages the acoustic panel near its middle, the weight of the panel is balanced relative to the shaft, thus making the stand and panel combination more securely positionable.
These and other features of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the best mode of practicing the present invention described below in connection with the following drawings.